Boston Dynamics' updated SpotMini can open doors with a creepy back appendage

Our days are numbered

It’s like a scene out of the Black Mirror episode Metalhead. The robopocalypse has occurred and our hero is hiding in a closet since he knows the dog-like robots have no hands to open the door. Peeking through the slats, he sees the two dogs that were chasing him step aside as a third one steps into view.

An armlike appendage with a claw for a hand springs forth from the third dog's back. It reaches for the handle on the closet door and opens it for the two canines which pounce into action, bludgeoning our hero to death with their club-like paws.

Except this is not a movie. It’s Boston Dynamics’ newest update to SpotMini (well maybe not the bludgeoning part).

The original SpotMini with dog-head grip.

Last November we showed you a teaser of the “almost cute” SpotMini which sported a stylish yellow paint job and ditched the skeletal-looking head/arm protruding from the back on the original version.

Well, the arm is back. While the "improved" SpotMini still looks mostly the same as the cute one, it has a creepy multijointed appendage on its back with a claw for gripping. At least the gripper doesn’t look like a dog skull this time.

The scariest part is the robodog’s AI has been patched to open doors not only for itself but to hold open doors for his buddies. Sure, they can't blast you with tracking shrapnel (yet), but still, all they need is a dog that knows how to pick locks and nobody will be safe when they decide to take over and rip our faces off.